Michael Douglas and Matt Damon star in the Liberace biopic, which features stunningly extravagant production design

Michael Douglas as Liberace and Matt Damon as his companion, Scott Thorson, in the new HBO film, Behind the Candelabra.

The world-renowned pianist and entertainer extraordinaire Liberace once remarked, “Too much of a good thing is wonderful.” While he may have borrowed the line from Mae West, the Glitter Man’s personal creed served as the design theme for the sets of the upcoming HBO biopic Behind the Candelabra. Directed by Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh and starring Oscar-winning actors Michael Douglas and Matt Damon as the flamboyant showman and his companion and chauffeur Scott Thorson, respectively, the film explores the pair’s tempestuous and secretive five-year affair. Production designer Howard Cummings—this marks his fifth collaboration with Soderbergh—and set decorator Barbara Munch Cameron (Glee) had only six weeks to design and decorate 30 glitz-and-glam-rich sets that included Liberace’s self-described “palatial kitsch” mansion in Las Vegas, a penthouse pied-à-terre in Los Angeles, and a Spanish-style 1920s retreat in Palm Springs known both as the Cloisters and Casa de Liberace. Behind the Candelabra airs May 26 on HBO.